The present invention relates to the field of battery powered flashlights, and especially to flashlights suitable for use in highly flammable or explosive environments.
The information provided herein and references cited is intended soley to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art to the present invention.
A large number of different flashlight designs have been described with various configurations. Most flashlights have generally cylindrical hollow housings that contain one or more cylindrical batteries in a single row. When a plurality of batteries are used, the positive terminal of the battery most distal from the light source contacts the negative terminal of the adjacent battery, continuing in this manner so that the positive terminal of the battery nearest the light source connnects with the light source. However, not all flashlights use the linear battery arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,414 describes a flashlight with a gas permeable membrane and battery polarization. One of the flashlights described has a side-by-side battery configuration with 2 batteries in each row, and uses a connector plate with springs behind it at the rear of the flashlight to electrically connect the two rows of batteries.
Underwater Kinetics markets a flashlight (UK2AAA) that has two AAA batteries in a side-by-side configuration. A contact plate that pivots on a central transverse hinge pin at the back of the flashlight provides contact between the batteries. A screw-on bezel causes the electrical circuit to be completed.